Accelebatob pedal



p 5, 1932- o. c. RITZWOLLER 1,875,399

ACCELERATOR PEDAL Filed 001,. 9. 1930 U'Hofnggs.

:46 form .of my improved. pedal;

Patented Sept. 6, 1932 OLIVER' C. RITZ WOLLER, OI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ACCELERATOR PEDAL Application filed October 9,. 1930.. Serial No. 487,415.

My invention relates to accelerator pedals for automobiles, and it has for'its object the provision of a new and improved form and arrangement of parts by reason of which I may provide the utmost'of ease and comfort lfor the driver of a car equipped with my improveddevice. *VVhen a driver applies pressure upon an accelerator pedal for hoursat a time with little or no rest orfchange, there is a distinct tendency for the'foot to become tired or even cramped so a to increasethe diificulty of-properly controlling the car and very materially increasing the danger of driving. For this reason, it is the object of my 45 invention to provide a, formof pedal by which the pressure between the pedal and the drivlers foot may be distributed as evenly as possible Without danger. of any marked concentration of pressureat any one point, .by

I go which the transmissionof the vibration from they car to the 'foot ofthe driver through the pedal may be prevented to a large extent, by Wh h 1 1. 6 footmay be largelyprotected from th heat of the engine, a d y hich-t d fi' g culty of continued pressure on the pedal may be otherwise lessened.

'It isoneof the objects of my invention to provide, an improved form of cushion, together with improved means for securing 30 such cushion in opera ive position 5 a pedal and for protecting thecushionagainst wear without detracting too much from the cushioning efiect. I

"It is another object of. my invention to improvedevices ofthis type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out. The preferred means by which'l have accomplished my severalobjects are illustrated in the drawing and are hereinafter specifica'lly described.

. '40 That which I believe to be new and desireto I (loverby Letters Patent is set forth the claims.

ut d a ing,- r F'g. 1 is atop plan view .ofthepreferred Fig. 2 is. a, side view of the device. assho'wn .in'Fig. 1- g I V Fig. 3 is a bottom plan .view of the cushioning-meanse rlqye s a pant th e e Fig. 4is a vertical sectional view,' taken substantially at'line 4-4 of Fig.3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to'a portion of the device as shown in Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of construction.

Referring now to Figs. 1 t inclusive in which corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters, 10 indicates a plate formed of sheet metal'having a reenforcing plate 11 secured thereto at one end, such reenforcing plate 11 comprisingone of the. leaves of a hinge by which the plate is pivotally mounted upon a bracket 12 which is adapted to be secured upon the floor boards of a car in position for causing the pedal to rest upon the accelerator of the car. pedal is pivotally connected with the bracket 12 by means of a pin 13 extending through lugs'14 carried by the plate 11 and lugs 15 carried by a hinge plate 16 whichis secured by welding or otherwise with the bracket 12. A coiled spring 17 mounted upon the pivot pin 13 and connected with the hinge plates serves to hold the pedal normally in position swung to the limit of its motion toward-the hinge plate 16. The bottom plate 10 is re enforcedon its bottom face by a plate 18 preferably secured by spotewelding thereto.

As is best shown "in Fig. 5, upon the bottom plate 101 have provideda sheet 19of asbestos,

Cupon which in turn I-mount my improved cushioning means. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5, my improved cushioning means comprises a covering and enclosing member 20 formed preferably of rubber. The member 20 comprises a sheetfof rubber 21 having walls 22 extending entirely about its edge. Thewall 22 at its edge portion located The I away fromthe-sheet 21 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 23. At one, end portion, a plurality of walls or ribs 24 extend across betweenthe oppositely disposed walls 22, such ribs 24 being formed integrally with the walls22 and standing in diagonal position with respect to the facing portion 21. {At its opposite..end, the member is provided with a recess 25 adapted to receive a soft yielding pad26 therein. The preferred form of pad 26 is made of sponge rubber, being cut from a sheet of such rubber of uniform thickness so as to fit within the recess 25.

In the construction shown, the covering and enclosing member 21, with the pad 26 in position in the recess 25 thereof, is held in position upon the plate 10 and asbestos sheet 19 by means of a metal rim member 27 Li 'is preferably formed by a casting or moldformed preferably of polished sheet alumi num pressed into form,vadapted by engagement with the flange 23 andthe edge portions of the plate to hold the parts securely in operative engagement with each other. The asbestos sheet 19 interposed between the plate 10 andthe rubber tread serves to protect the drivers foot from the heat of the engine. The sheet 19 also protects the cushioning means of the tread from excessive heat and insureslonger life and greater resiliency of the tread.

With the parts secured in position as shown in Fig. 5, it will be appreciated that the facing. member 21 is spaced from the metal plate 10 at one end by the sponge rubber pad- 26and at the opposite end by the ribs 2i. It will be understood that upon the 1 application of pressure to the covering member 20, the ribs 2 1 by which the space at one end is divided into cells or compartments will be collapsed upon each other serving more or less to compress the air in such cells. At the opposite end of the device, the pressure upon the covering member serves to collapse the walls of the cells of the pad 26,

serving necessarily to compress the air within themyr'iad cells of the sponge structure.

By the provision of any construction as shown and described, I am enabled very readily to providea highly desirable form of cushioning means. The covering member 20 ing operation so as to receive the pad i which can be prepared by a simple stamping operation from sheet form. At the end of the device at the left as shown in Fig. 4, where the necessity for a very soft pad is not so great, and where it is desirable that the thickness of the pad be decreased, I have provided the yielding rib arrangement comprising the parts 24 which may be cast integrally with the covering member 20.

In Fig. 6, I have provided a covering member 28 similar to the member 20, except that the ribs 24 are eliminated and a different arrangement is substituted. In the construction as shown in said Fig. 6, a series of ribs 29 are provided in crossed relationship to a second series of ribs 30, such ribs being formed integrally with the side walls 31 of the structure and being arranged in substanupon the ribs 29 and 30, such ribs are adapted to buckle horizontally for providing the desired resilient support for such facing portion of the cushioning means.

While I prefer to employ the form of construction as shown in. my drawing and as above described, it is to be understood that my invention is not limited thereto except so far as the claims may be so limited by the prior art, it being understood that changes may well be made inmy device without departing from the spirit of my claims.

I claim 1. In an" accelerator pedal, the combination of a plate, means for pivotally mounting said plate in position on a car, a covering member formed of rubber extending along said plate having a recess in its inner face at one end portion and having flexible rib portions formed integrally therewith at the other end portion serving tospace said member yieldingly from said plate, a pad of sponge rubber removably mounted in said recess for supporting said covering member yieldingly from said plate, and means for securing said covering member on said plate.

2. In an accelerator pedal, the combination of a plate, means for pivotally mounting said plate in position 'on a car, 'a covering member formed of rubber extending along said plate having a recess in its inner face at one end portion and having flexible rib portions formed integrally therewith at the other end portion and standing in oblique position with respect thereto serving to space said member yieldingly from said plate, a pad of sponge rubber removably mounted in said recess for supporting said covering member yieldingly from said plate, and

means for securing said covering member on said plate. V V

3. In an accelerator pedal,the combination of a plate, means for pivotally mounting said plate in position on a car, a covering member formed of rubber extending along said plate having a recess in its inner face at one end and rim means adapted byengagement with said flanges and the marginal'portions of said plate to hold the pad and covering memher in position on the plate.

. 4.-In an accelerator pedal, the combination of a plate adaptedto be pivotally mounted 1n position on a car,.a covering member formed of compact rubber extending along said plateand having a recess in the under I side. of its forward portion, the rearward portion of said covering member-being of reduced thlCkIlQSS as compared with its for ward portion and having flexible rib portions formed integrally therewith on its under side and serving to space the rearward portion of said member yieldingly from said 5 plate, a pad of sponge rubber removably mounted in saidrecess for supporting the forward portion of said member yieldingly from said plate, and means for securing said covering member on said plate. 5. In an accelerator pedal, the combination of a plate, means for pivot-ally mounting said plate in position on a car, a'covering member formed of rubber extending along said plate having a recess in its, inner face at one end 1 portion and having flexible rib-portions formed integrally therewith at the other end portion and standing in crossed relationship with respect to each other and serving to space said member yieldingly from said plate, a pad of sponge rubber removably mounted in said recess for supporting said covering member yieldingly from said plate, and means for securing said covering member on said plate.

OLIVER C. RITZ WVOLLER. 

